Tails of an Outcast
by Ero-Kyuubi-Sama
Summary: AU. What if Naruto was banished after retrieving Sasuke? What if Tayuya survived her battle with Shikamaru, but was left for dead by Oto? And what if their paths crossed, leading both these outcasts on a journey that will change the fate of their world? We can only wait and see what the outcome will be... NarutoxTayuya, Strong!Naruto, Strong!Tayuya. NOT an Evil Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**Tails of an Outcast**

**First Arc: Pain and Training**

**Chapter 1**

**AN: Hey there everyone, Ero-Kyuubi-Sama here with my second story. Technically, my first is down for Rewrite as I post this, but still this counts numerically, even if I haven't finished my other one yet. Now, please, if you've read my other story, don't freak! I'm not abandoning it, simply posting this (Which already has this chapter and half the next one done) while I work on it.**

**Oh and yes, the title is a clever pun, no, Naruto won't actually be growing tails.**

**As promised, full summary here:** Upon returning from his successful mission to retrieve Sasuke, Naruto thinks things will finally settle down. But the very next day, he is summoned before the council. Danzo and the council go over Tsunade's head to the Daimyo, and have Naruto banished under pain of death, effective almost immediately. As he flees towards the Valley of the End, Naruto meets a certain red-haired menace and a lone sound Chunin. What will bloom from this chance meeting? Wait and see my friends, for it is something that will shake this world to its very core.

**Tags:** Strong!Naruto, Strong!Tayuya, NarutoxTayuya, NOT a Dark/Evil Naru fic, Smart!Naruto (Eventually)

**Most Probable Pairings (Or 100% pairings): **Naruto x Tayuya (100% certain) Shikamaru x Temari (90%) OC x Fu (50%, depends if I decide to include Fu in the story)

**Few quick points. This first chapter is not technically a prologue, but it is an introduction of sorts. It sets up the basis for the two life-changing events for Naruto and Tayuya, it features their meeting and what comes of that, and it also features the beginning of their journey together, though they don't actually go anywhere yet, it's really just the set up for the next chapter, like I said.**

**Both Naruto and Tayuya will be strong in this fic, eventually. The first few chapters (3-5) will be their travels and training up to a certain point. I will show ample amounts of it, as well as the people they meet, but I won't bore you with it too much. The story will really pick up around chapter 4-5, where we will be into the Shippuden timeline.**

**Notice: There will be little to no character bashing, ironically. Except maybe Danzo…I hate that guy. And Orochimaru, but that won't be so much bashing, as it will be making fun of the fact that the dude's a total pedophile. **

**READ THIS IS NOTHING ELSE: For those that know that I hate Tobi/Madara, don't fret. I decided to include him in this story. However, I got a really neat idea inspired to moi, and I decided to use it. Tobi exists, but not in the way you think.**

**Also, (SPOLIER ALERT FOR MANGA FOLLOWING) was anyone else Mind-fucked when we find out in the manga that Tobi -ISN'T- actually Madara? I was like….wait….the fuck? (Spoiler over)**

**That is all, enjoy!**

****Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, any of the characters (except my OC's), or the TV shows, or any related merchandise or the like relating to Naruto. I make no profit off of this.****

**- Land of Fire: The Valley of the End – The day before "D-Day" -**

The wind howled across the now barren, cratered landscape, battering against the walls of the valley, disturbing the water that covered the majority of the valley floor in this great scar of a battle ages past. It fluttered over the shatters valley walls and the cratered shores. However, this wind was not a natural wind. No, this wind was created by a single event that was occurring in the valley; an event so powerful, that the Jonin with one eye covered whom was currently rushing towards the scene stopped momentarily, his single eye widening at the power he felt.

'_W-what….what is that? That can't be good, I have to hurry!' _Thought one Kakashi Hatake milliseconds before he dashed off again, his speed doubling as he raced towards the source of the power.

As Kakashi raced towards the Valley of the End, the wind inside the valley picked up. By now, the whole valley was bathed in a pale grey light, making it seem almost ethereal. The source of this light, was none other than a huge ball of blackness in the middle. This ball of energy encased two figures, both of which were the source of the energy, the ball and the wind. In more correct terms, the attacks the two of them were hurling at each other were the source of the light. Sasuke Uchiha, his body transformed from his second level of the Curse Seal, threw is Chidori against the Rasengan of one Naruto Uzumaki, his body cloaked in the red demonic chakra of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"**SASUKE!"**

"**NARUTO!"**

The two screamed at each other just before impact, and the creation of the ball of energy. It pulsed and suddenly burst, loose chakra spraying off like tiny particles of water in the wind. Two forms fell to the ground with a thud. Naruto was bleeding from a wound on his shoulder, but the wound was not that deep, as he had been able to knock Sasuke's attack upwards as they broke the deadlock. Because the massive influx of Kyuubi's chakra had healed the first Chidori hole significantly, he knew that he was fine and would be even better once the Kyuubi worked its 'magic'. Sasuke likewise was not too damaged, but what remained of his shirt was trashed around his chest, and an angry red swirl-like scar patterned that lightly oozed blood lay in the chest of his chest. It was not enough to kill, but Sasuke was out cold. Naruto coughed and struggled up, praying that his decision not to pull his attack up paid off, but did not kill his friend.

"S-Sasuke…?" Naruto asked in a weak voice as he crawled over to his friend. A worried look colored his face, but he let out a sigh of relief when he heard a slightly strained breath from his friend and almost brother. Sasuke seemed to be unconscious, but he would be alright.

There was a soft thud next to him, and Naruto's hand flew to his kunai pouch as he turned, ready for one of the Sound Five members to be there. However luck seemed to truly be shining on him that day, it seemed, seeing as it was only Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei! Thank Kami, we need to get Sasuke help! He's unconscious, and took a Rasengan to the chest." Naruto exclaimed, struggling to stand up.

"Naruto, your shoulder! We need to get you help as well." The amazingly serious Jonin said, moving to help Naruto stand. To himself, Kakashi wondered in amazement at what looked like a healed hole straight through Naruto's body just below the still-bleeding wound. The young blond just waved him off though, motioning to his already visibly healing wound.

"I'm fine Kakashi-sensei, the Kyuubi, remember? C'mon, we have to get Sasuke back to Konoha. How are the others?" Naruto asked as Kakashi made a hand sign and muttered Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, a solid copy of the copy-nin appearing in a puff of smoke and picking up a slightly protesting Naruto as the real Kakashi picked up Sasuke.

"They're all fine Naruto, don't worry about it. The medic squad got to the already. Some of them are in critical condition, but with Tsunade-sama back in Konoha, I'm sure they'll be fine." Kakashi said, eye-smiling at Naruto. Inwardly though, Kakashi was thinking something entirely different. _'I hope those medics hurry. If they don't make it to Konoha fast enough, Choji and Neji may not make it in the end…'_

Naruto smiled to himself and relaxed slightly as the Kakashi clone started jumping away after the original. _ 'We did it…. Everyone is gonna' be ok, and Sasuke is back. Now maybe things will go back to normal…'_ The young blonde Jinchuriki thought to himself.

"_**Brat… doesn't curse your luck…"**_ The Kyuubi rumbled in Naruto's mind.

"_Shut up ya' great big ball of fur!"_ Naruto shot back, only receiving an angry growl in response. _'Well, as normal as they could be, at least…'_ Naruto tacked on as an afterthought, smiling and closing his eyes for the trip back to Konoha.

'_**Hmph. I have a bad feeling about this…'**_ Kyuubi thought to himself within the seal, but he shrugged his massive shoulders and resigned himself to lie down and see what happens.

**- Hidden Leaf Village – Night before "D-Day" -**

Naruto Uzumaki was currently resting rather happily, for once, in his hospital bed at the Konoha General Hospital. While he wasn't in that bad of shape anymore, thanks to the Kyuubi, he was still checked in as a formality. Well, that and the fact that Tsunade was worried sick about the signs that Naruto had had a Chidori shoved _through_ his body. Both Neji and Choji had been stabilized for now, but still required major surgery, with Kiba and Shikamaru just being kept as a formality at this point as well.

Tsunade had been in earlier to see Naruto, congratulating him and giving him an update on Sasuke's status. Apparently the Last Uchiha had been healed up and stabilized but was still unconscious, though he was not in a coma. Tsunade mentioned that she would be tied up for the next day or two performing the surgeries required to help Choji and Neji fully recover.

'_Ahh, I may hate hospitals, but it looks like everything is gonna' turn out ok…'_ Naruto thought to himself, grinning his famous foxy grin and leaning back against his pillow, his hands behind his head as he slowly fell to sleep.

**- Land of Fire: Destroyed Forest – Night before "D-Day" -**

What had once been a beautiful, lush forest in the Land of Fire was currently a trashed wasteland in multiple areas. The fights against the Sound Five had left the land scared, from the bone columns closest to the Valley of the End, to the leveled forest where Shikamaru fought the Sound Nin known as Tayuya, and bested her with the help of Temari.

Speaking of which, said Sound Nin was currently stuck between a tree and a hard place, literally. When Temari had used her jutsu to level the forest, Tayuya had been cut up and trapped between two fallen trees. Had there been medic Nin from her village around, she would have been counting her blessings that only her legs her trapped and, while obviously broken, she would have been able to be rescued and healed. That is…._'If they actually gave a fucking shit about my stupid ass….'_ Tayuya thought bitterly to herself as she lay there. Her light red hair splayed out around her head, her arms having fallen to either side of the larger log she lay on top of. She could have moved them, at least a bit, but she was currently too worn out and battered to even think about doing something like that. She had heard the Konoha nin come through earlier in the day, and heard them talking. At that point she had just woken up, but that was a good thing. Apparently shortly before the Suna bitch had come over to inspect her, to make sure she was dead. Apparently she had passed for dead, that or the Suna bitch was just distracted. Either way, she heard the Konoha Nin talking about "other genin" and "needing help" or something.

'_Fuck Damnit…fucking piece of shit Konoha shinobi….just had to…..beat my sorry ass…and they were….only Genin? Fuck me sideways….'_ She mused, cracking an eye open and lifting her head just a few inches to peer again at the log….no, the tree, that pinned her legs. Tayuya was a brash, vulgar, in-your-face girl and she knew it. It was her protection, her way of showing that she wasn't some weakling, showing that she meant something. But now, she was experiencing something that she rarely ever had. She felt…_'Scared…fuck it, I'm scared…scared and alone, just like when Orochi-cocker found me…..Kami fucking Damnit…'_ She cursed to herself, leaning back against her log-bed and gazing up at the stars, a single tear sliding down her cheek. _'At least the stars are pretty tonight…'_ Was one of the last thoughts across her mind before she slipped into something that was a cross between sleep and unconsciousness.

**- Hidden Leaf Village: Location Unknown – Night before "D-Day" -**

The voice of an older man, but one that was in command and he knew it, rang out through the shadowed chamber. "So, the Kyuubi Jinchuriki used the Fox's chakra…and the Akatsuki are going to begin moving soon. That means Itachi….You there, send this message to the Fire Daimyo, right away!" The man mused to himself before calling out to one of his ROOT shinobi, handing the Nin a sealed scroll.

"Yes, I think this will work out perfectly… Banish the boy…alert Orochimaru, so he can have another play thing, and divert the Akatsuki away from Konoha." The man grinned, tilting his head up and revealing the 'X' shaped scar on his chin to the world.

"This will work perfectly…" He said before grabbing his cane and heading to rest. _'Tomorrow is a big day, I finally set all my plans in motion…'_

**- Hidden Leaf Village: Hospital – Morning of "D-Day" -**

Naruto awoke with a yawn and a stretch, wincing slightly at his still-sore injuries and the general exhaustion that still gripped his system. His happy smile grew wider once he remembered what had happened. They had done it, Sasuke was back. And everyone had survived too.

"Naruto-san? Breakfast." A nurse said, wheeling in a tray of hospital food. Naruto grinned, happy that he had gotten one of the nurses that actually treated him decently for once.

"Alright! Time to eat, then I can get out of here!" He shouted happily before digging into the meal, despite the fact that it wasn't the best, it was still pretty good for hospital food.

As soon as he finished, he asked the nurse when he could leave.

"Ah, as soon as Tsunade-sama clears you, Naruto-san. She's in surgery for another hour or so, but she should be around no later than noon to check you out." The nurse responded with a small smile.

"Alright! Thanks, lady! Have a good day and all that!" The hyper blonde answered back, overjoyed to be getting out. It seemed that nothing could go wrong for Naruto right now. If only he knew how wrong that was though…

A sudden knock at the door brought him out of his random train of thoughts. Blinking, he glanced at the clock and blanched. He had been lost in thought for almost an hour.

"Oh… you were awake, huh? Good, the council summoned you, Naruto, and Shizune said you could go if they needed you." The lazy voice of Kakashi Hatake said from the doorway.

"Nani? What could the council want…" Naruto wondered as he got dressed. Confused or not, he certainly wasn't going to spend any extra time in the hospital if he could help it.

The lazy Jonin just shrugged, having already pulled out his Icha Icha book. "Not sure Naruto, but who knows, maybe they're going to promote you to Chunin. We all know you did well enough in the exams to be one, and now that you brought back Sasuke."

At this, Naruto immediately perked up and gave a victory sign to no one in particular. "Alright! Finally, let's get going Kakashi-sensei!" The literally bouncing blonde shouted.

"Eh, Naruto, the summon was only for you. I'll catch you later though." Kakashi said, disappearing in a swirl of leaves and leaving our favorite blonde ninja only able to shrug and head off towards the council chambers near the Hokage tower.

**- Hidden Leaf Village: Council Chambers – "D-Day" -**

Naruto Uzumaki stood before the entire assembled council, extremely confused. An ANBU stood nearby after escorting him in, but the masked man was not tense or threatening. Glancing around, Naruto took notice of the fact that the majority of the ninja council wasn't there.

'_That makes sense, I suppose. Shikamaru and Choji's dads are probably at the hospital, and Kiba's mom too. Hm…that Hyuga guy is here though…and Mr. Yamanaka is missing, but he's probably with those other guys. What did Iruka-sensei used to call them? The…Inu-shakey-choo trio? Something like that…'_ Naruto mused to himself as he stood, waiting for the elders to arrive.

"_**Ino-Shika-Cho, gaki."**_A deep voice rumbled in his head. _**"Apparently they're rather famous, as far as you flesh monkeys go at least…"**_

"_Oi! Shut it, Fuzz-butt. I know you're being nicer lately, which is weird, but I'm trying to figure out what they want with me here…"_ Naruto shot back.

The fox grunted in response, still having an uneasy feeling about all of this. _**"Just be careful gaki…. I have a bad feeling about all of this. And as far as being 'nice', I told you, I'll explain it all soon…"**_ The Demon Lord answered before falling silent.

"_Yeah, that's what you keep saying…"_ Naruto shot back, but was met with only silence.

Finally the room quieted down as the doors in the rear opened, the three elders walking in with two ANBU moving to stand on either side of the door. The three took their seats in the middle of the 'U' shaped council table, glancing at the empty spots where ninja clan heads that were busy normally sat. Naruto could have sworn he saw the bandage-faced guy smirk at this, but he wrote it off as a trick of the light.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Genin of Konohagakure no Sato. Do you know why you have been called here today?" Bandage-face said as he took the place directly next to where the Hokage usually sat, though he remained standing while the other elders sat down.

"Eh…No, not really, Bandage-sama." Naruto said with a foxy grin, earning a slight chuckle from the ANBU commander in his seat, but scoff and scowls from the entire civilian council.

"That's Danzo-sama to you, Uzumaki. And very well, seeing as we all have better things to do, I will make this brief. The other elders and I have been watching you, Uzumaki. We have watched your progress ever since you were a Genin. Recently, some….events, have brought certain matters to mind for us that we feel need to be…addressed." Danzo said, pausing for breath before continuing. "After reviewing all of the recent reports that we have seen, showing them to the other esteemed council members and even consulting the Daimyo himself, it is the decree of the council that you, Uzumaki Naruto…"

'_This is it! I'm going to be promoted to Chunin, and I'll be one step closer to Hokage!' _The blonde shouted in his mind, barely restraining himself from bouncing in the physical world. The Kyuubi, however, stayed deathly quiet. He had a very, very bad feeling about this.

"…be banished for life, on pain of death, from Konohagakure no Sato." Danzo finished. Naruto was about to yell and give a victory sign, when the words struck home. His whole body tensed up, his face a blank mask of horror.

"W-what….What do you mean?" He stuttered out after a few seconds.

"I mean exactly what I said, Uzumaki. Due to your obvious instability and reckless use of the chakra of your prisoner, Kyuubi no Kitsune, you are hereby banished from Konoha for life, for the safety of the village. The council has already voted earlier this morning, and seeing as the Hokage and some members felt it ok to forgo the summons to a council vote overseen by the Daimyo himself, their votes are no longer valid. Please proceed with the ANBU for the sealing of your chakra and decommissioning of your shinobi weapons and gear." The bandaged old war-hawk said with a victorious grin on his face, the same looked matched by both elders and the majority of the civilian council, though some were more restrained about it.

Naruto couldn't move. _'B-banished…? H-how could they…..HOW COULD THEY!'_ He screamed inside, tears leaking freely from his eyes in the physical world.

"_**Kid, we have to move fast. If they seal your chakra, it's game over. We can still make it out of this, you still have that basic ninja gear on you. Smoke bomb, left pouch. Grab it, throw it, make as many **__**Kage Bunshin**__** as you can and run for it."**_ The Demon Fox said frantically, not wanting to have his host crippled for life. It was a matter of pride for him, he couldn't have a weak host. That…and he was actually fond of the gaki.

'_H-how could they….after everything I've done…'_ Was all that Naruto could think of. He heard the Kyuubi, but he was too shocked to move.

"_**KID! That ANBU is gonna' grab you, we've got to move!"**_ The Kyuubi shouted in desperation.

'_T-thy banished me…..move….banished….ANBU….why did they banish me…'_ The blonde's thoughts were slightly move coherent now, but not enough.

"_**KID! MOVE YOUR ASS NOW OR YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH ANY OF YOUR DREAMS!"**_ The Kyuubi roared, finally shaking Naruto to his senses. The civilian council was chuckling, some congratulating each other, as the ANBU that had escorted him in approached Naruto. _'Smoke bomb…throw…__Kage Bunshin__….run for it…got it. I won't let them win!'_ The blonde yelled to himself, his hand flashing into his belt pouch and grabbing a smoke bomb. He flicked it at the ANBU, who had been completely unsuspecting this Genin to resist in a room full of council members and ANBU guards.

The whole council stopped and gasped as a cloud of smoke poof'ed up in the middle of the room, many crying out in surprise or fear. The ANBU made a dash for where the boy had been, only to be hit square in the chest with a powerful kick. Moments later, as the ANBU flew out of the cloud of smoke, there was a loud yell from the center of it.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

And then all hell broke loose. Thirty copies of Naruto shot off in random direction. Ten or so went straight for the council members, starting to beat the civilian ones up. The other twenty slammed into, and Through, the door and ran out of the building. The ANBU picked off a few, and quickly terminated the ones left behind to distract the council, but by this time there were eight, solid, identical copies of Naruto running in eight different directions.

Naruto ran and ran as fast as he could, grinning wildly to himself. He had done it, though he still had to get out of the village. Suddenly a shadow dropped in front of him, and he skidded to a halt. A tiger-masked ANBU captain stood in front of him, Tanto already drawn.

'_Shit! Why did he have to show up, why! I was so close too!'_ Naruto thought, getting ready to fight with everything he had. It wasn't required though, as the ANBU was suddenly plowed into the ground by a red and white blur. Blinking, Naruto stood up out of his Taijutsu stance and found himself looking at the angry form of Jiraiya of the Sannin standing over an now-unconscious ANBU.

Jiraiya turned to Naruto and his gaze softened. Naruto opened his mouth to ask what he was doing, but the Gama-sennin held up a hand to halt him. His other hand reached behind his back and pulled a scroll about half the size of his normal one form just above it.

"There's no time Naruto. Please, hear me out. I caught wind of what Danzo was doing earlier today, and I've been preparing ever since. Please know that neither Tsunade nor I support this, Naruto. Danzo went over both of our heads, to the Fire Daimyo himself. Trust me, I'll get the bastard though. Take this scroll, I packed two months worth of preserved supplies in it, along with some gear for you, and camping supplies. Listen closely, ok? Go to Wave country, to your old friend Tazuna's house. Stay there for a month, and then either Kakashi or I will show up, got it?" Jiraiya said, maintaining the serious vibe the entire time.

"H-hai….Jiraiya-sensei…" Naruto said, dashing forward and giving Jiraiya a quick hug before slinging the scroll over his shoulder and dashing away. Jiraiya smiled after his godson as he watched him leap the walls. Luckily, Jiraiya had thought ahead and knocked the guard out. He was going to lead Naruto to this part of the wall anyways, but it was apparently just luck that he got the real one and didn't have to.

Turning back towards the center of the village, Jiraiya cracked his knuckles. He had a one-eyed old coot to kill.

**- Land of Fire: Flattened Forest – "D-Day" -**

Tayuya lay there, still squished between the two trees, thinking gloomily to herself. With nothing left to do but think until she starved to death, or more likely died of thirst, she had been doing a lot of thinking lately. She had thought about Otogakure, and why she was even a part of it in the first place._ 'Oh yeah, because Orochi-cocker grabbed me and gave me 'A place to call home' and all that fucking shit. Bah, fucking snake, we were just pawns, weren't we…'_

She had thought long and hard about her team, the idiots she had been forced to server with. Sure, she hated their guts, but there was the tiniest feeling of some strange bond. _'Bunch of fuck heads. Couldn't even kill a couple Genin, but we're supposed to be the elite of Oto. Gah, I hope they all fucking rot in hell…especially fatass.'_

And finally, she had thought about herself. She had thought long and hard about the mask she always wore. She had worn it for so long, it had become part of her strange in a way. She knew that even if she completely opened up and let it down, she would still cuss and be 'bitchy', simply from force of habit. _'It's all Orochi-cocker's fault. Damn snake….had to make me like this. Well…at least, when I die, this damn Curse Seal will go away….I hate…Orochimaru…'_

At this point Tayuya was ready to pass out again, when she heard footsteps approached. Her eyes shot wide and she glanced to her left in hope, only for that hope to be crushed. Walking towards here was a lone Otogakure Chunin, a scout by the looks of it.

"My, my, what do we have here…" He murmured, a kunai twitching in his hand. " Tayuya of the Sound Five. Well….I'm sorry to say, _Tayuya-Sama_, but I have to kill you now." He said with a sadistic grin.

"W-.." Tayuya started, but coughed as he slammed a fist into her chest. "B-bastard….w-why…" She choked out as the grey-clad Chunin grinned down at her.

"Because…you didn't know? Orochimaru-sama no long requires your services. Apparently, you fucked up so bad that he's deciding to throw you away. After all, dull tools are useless to a man such as Orochimaru-sama. Now, goodbye, Tayuya."

And with that, the Chunin plunged the kunai into Tayuya's chest, causing the girl to scream out in pain. As she started to black out, she heard more footsteps approaching at a rapid pace. _'Heh…more for….the…party…'_ She thought as she slipped into unconsciousness and shortly after that, her heart stopped beating. As she died, the Cursed Seal of Heaven upon her skin sizzled and seemed to evaporate into the air like purple smoke, leaving her skin in that area flawless again. As this was happening however, Tayuya, being dead, missed the orange blur shoving a rotating blue attack into the Oto Chunin's stomach. If only she knew, then her hope wouldn't have died so easily.

**- Land of Fire: Flattened Forest – "D-Day" -**

On his way to Wave country with the large scroll on his back, Uzumaki Naruto had taken the route towards the Valley of the End, hoping to throw any pursuers off as his scent was already there from recent days. His plan was to then cut back and head towards Wave. However, he hadn't expected to come across a flattened forest, the trees sliced into pieces by some unknown attack, and a lone Oto Chunin standing over a pinned girl.

Unfortunately for the Oto Chunin, Naruto had heard the whole conversation, and frankly it pissed him off.

'_She's just like me now….abandoned and thrown to the wolves…I have to save her!'_ He thought, charging forward and gathering a Rasengan on one hand. Though it was much more unstable than usual, it held together long enough.

"RASENGAN!" He shouted, thrusting the attacked forward into the unsuspecting Chunin's chest. The man made a 'gack' sound and flew back, slamming hard into a nearby tree and slumping to the ground, unconscious. Naruto quickly made his way over to the girl and, using shadow clones, lifted the log off over her legs. He grimaced at the black and blue sight of her legs, and went to check for a pulse.

"Shit! No, don't be dead! I know you're a Oto Nin, but please don't be dead!" Naruto shouted, gingerly lifting the slightly older looking girl to the ground. He pulled the kunai out and began doing CPR and, a bit reluctantly, mouth-to-mouth. Sadly though, nothing seemed to be working.

"DAMNIT!" He shouted, slamming a fist into her chest, right above her heart.

"_**Kid….I have an idea. But it will require two things. The first, is that that other shinobi will die. The second, is that I will need to be in control for a short period of time."**_ The Kyuubi's voice rumbled through Naruto's anger.

"What, you think I'm stupid fox? I'm not giving you control!" Naruto answered aloud, forgetting himself in the current situation.

"_**Brat, shut up and do as I say if you want the girl to live. I won't do anything, you have my word. Dragging that other shinobi over here, and take off that gay scarf. Once that's done, I want you to place your palm on the girl's neck, and the other palm on his."**_ The Kyuubi instructed, and Naruto reluctant complied.

"_**Good, now, call upon my chakra and close your eyes. When you feel me acting and pushing at the chakra, will me to be able to. Trust me kid, this will work.."**_ The Biju said, and once again Naruto complied. He scrunched up his face and forcefully pulled out the Kyuubi's chakra. As soon as he did, he literally felt the fox trying to push the chakra one way, but pull it up from another. It was a weird feeling, until Naruto realized the pushing was going down into this 'Tayuya', and the pulled was coming from side that the unconscious Oto Nin was on. Not really caring at the moment, Naruto willed the pushing and pulled to work. Suddenly the force increased, and Naruto heard the Kyuubi muttered a few short words before there was a flash of very, very strange feeling power that passed through Naruto and into the red haired girl.

"_**Akuma no Geijutsu: Inochiryoku no Dentatsu" (*)**_

Blinking, Naruto looked around. Glancing down, he saw he was still in the same positon as before. However the Kyuubi's chakra had receded and the Oto Chunin was now deathly pale. Naruto's eyes snapped over to the red-haired girl and he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the kunai wound had closed, and her chest was slowly rising and falling.

"_**G-Good job…kid. Now….make some splints….and put them on her legs. You'll have to c-carry her…to Wave. It's not that f-far…if you go all out."**_ The Kyuubi rumbled softly, sounding unbelievable tired.

"_Hey Kyuubi? You ok?"_ Naruto asked mentally, a bit worried for his tenant as he began to search for suitable splint-making wood.

"_**Yeah, that technique just took a lot out of me. I'll be fine."**_ The Biju mumbled, causing Naruto to simply shrug and go back to work. He'd ask his tenant about it later, as right now he a fellow abandonee to save. He only hoped Tazuna would take him in, otherwise he was royally screwed.

**- Land of Waves: Tazuna's House – "D-Day" -**

Naruto panted heavily, having used all of his own chakra and a fair portion of the Kyuubi's in order to reach Wave before nightfall. As it was, the sun was about half an hour away from setting, and Naruto was amazed he had made such good time.

He rapped loudly on the door of the home he distinctly remembered to be Tazuna's, and was greeted by a yell of 'Just a minute'.

'_Thank Kami, it's Tsunami-chan. She'll be the easiest to convince to help me…'_

The door swung open to reveal Tsunami, looking pretty much the same as she had during the wave arc.

"O-Oh my! Naruto-kun, back so soon! Oh do come in, I was j-.." She cut herself off and her eyes widened at the sight of the battered girl in his arms.

"Tsunami-chan, please, she needs help." Naruto begged, stepping inside.

Instead of the shocked or hesitant reaction Naruto had expected, Tsunami's face set itself in a look of determination and she nodded. "Right, this way." The black-haired woman muttered, leading him through the house, which Naruto noticed had been renovated and enlarged since he had last been there.

"Ever since you left, I've been studying up more on medicine. I may not be a medical ninja, or whatever you call them, but I'm rather good at it. I can at least bandage her up and make sure her legs set right, because I can tell they're broken." Tsunami murmured as they walked.

Naruto nodded, following along as she spoke. While he was surprised, he didn't have time to show it. He felt oddly protective of this girl, probably because he witnessed her go through the same betrayal he had, only she had been powerless to stop it.

"Set her down here, Naruto-kun. I know you may not want to, but I need you to leave the room. This is involve undressing her a bit, and you can't see that." Tsunami said with a light smirk, causing Naruto to blush.

"Hai, Tsunami-chan. I'm…going for a walk. I take it the Old Man and Inari aren't home?" He asked.

"Hai, they're both in town, though they should be back later. Go on now, I'll have your friend patched up in no time, though I think I'll give her some sedative herbs when I set the bones, so she'll be out for a while."

Naruto simply nodded and left the room, sighing to himself. _'Well…I might as well go see the bridge and stuff…'_ He thought to himself, strolling back out the front door.

Man, what a day, and it wasn't even over yet.

**- Land of Waves: Overlooking the Great Naruto Bridge – "D-Day" -**

His walking had taken Naruto to a spot he never truly thought he would visit again, at least not for a while. The thirteen year old shinobi was exhausted beyond belief, but he had subconsciously made his way to this spot.

In front of him, with the setting sun behind it, was the grave of Zabuza and Haku. Zabuza's sword, Kubikiribocho, was still as shiny as it was the day it was plunged into the earth.

'_Huh…. Zabuza had a dream too. I remember Haku saying something about Zabuza's dream to become Mizukage… looks like his dream was stolen from him too…'_ Naruto thought.

They were one and the same now, two lost souls who's dreams had been taken from them by an outside force.

"It's ironic…that my first real mission as a ninja….is the one that I end up coming back to at the end of my ninja career…" The blonde muttered sadly to himself. A changing in the lighting made Naruto look up from his feet, and he watched as the sun sank lower and lower.

Suddenly though, grim determination crossed his face.

"…yeah…..Yeah! I'll show them. I'll show them, Zabuza, for both of us! I'll realize my dream, my new dream, and I'll do it for me and for you!" He said. Grinning, he strode forward and grasped the hilt of the massive blade. A tingle ran up his arm, and had he been more focused Naruto would have sworn as if he suddenly felt accepted. Yanking up and applying all his remaining chakra to his muscles, Naruto raised Kubikiribocho above his head so that the dying sunlight flashed off the silver part of the huge black blade.

"Look out world, Uzumaki Naruto is never gonna' die!" He shouted to the heavens, a determined look on his face the entire time.

**AN: And, fin! Muwaha, how did you like it? I know, we didn't see much of Tayuya this chapter, but that will change in the coming chapters.**

**Please review, but be constructive. Don't be an idiot that says stupid or pointless things.**

*** Also, the Kyuubi's jutsu, ****Akuma no Geijutsu: Inochiryoku no Dentatsu****, translates as literally Demonic Style: Life Force Transfer. It's my own invention, based off of the Jutsu that the old lady uses to save Gaara (Chiryo or w/e her name is) except it takes the life force of one OTHER living being to bring back a recently dead on. It's an AU story, so don't bitch about this please.**

**And no, Naruto isn't going to be swinging Zabuza's sword around until the Shippuden timeline arc. It takes training, skill and muscle, so he won't yet, he just picked it up in this chapter.**

**Review! :D And comment on any requests, I.E. for pairings or for places for Naruto and Tayuya to go on their travels.**

**Also, my OC will pop up either next chapter, or the one after that. I think you guys will like it.**

**Last thing: Please drop a review and point out any grammar errors, as my beta is busy at the moment (Or, he was, so I didn't ask him to beta this one yet xD)**

**Ja ne!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Tails of an Outcast**

**First Arc: Pain and Training**

**Chapter 2**

**AN: Alright, few quick points to hit. First, sorry I took so freaking long to get this out. Life has kept me insanely busy, and the rewrite of my other story is consuming more time than I thought. Have no fear though, the next update should be sooner.**

**Key Points:**

**-NOTICE: For those of you that misunderstood my meaning of Naruto's words after he took Zabuza's blade last time, NO, Naruto will not become Mizukage, or go to Kiri. It's a nice idea, but I can't do it. Why? Because I've read a wonderful story where Naruto becomes Mizukage already, so if I did one I would feel like I was stealing, even if I made my version different. I've edited the end of last chapter to make my meaning more clear. The dream Naruto pledges to do is to stay alive in a world that seems to have crashed down around him, and he simply pledges to do it in Remembrance of Zabuza's dream.**

**-MAJOR Key point: Ok, so here's the deal. This story will be very AU. To the point that certain cannon characters will be switched and changed. If you don't like it….frankly, I don't care. Sorry, but it's my story. Akatsuki will STILL be the major enemy, and Sasuke's role will be revealed later in this chapter. For those of you that don't like Sasuke's role, deal with it. He's not my favorite character, but the idea for him for this story that came to me, I fell in love with.**

**-MAJOR MAJOR Key point: Ok, just as warning, if ANYONE bitches about the progression of Naruto and Tayuya's relationship I will flip a shit. KEEP THIS IN MIND, as far as the CHAPTERS it takes before they start to develop friendship and then even more, it WILL seem short. But please remember I will be using time skips Liberally (to say the very least) to get us to Shippuden. I WILL BE HITTING all the key points of their training, and maybe some places they visit, but not the boring shit. Also, because CANNON Naruto AND my Naruto are good at 'changing' people (i.e. Tsunade, Gaara, w/e in the manga) Tayuya will eventually –EVOLVE-. She will still be Tayuya-y, but she will be changed by being Naruto's constant traveling companion for however many years I decide they travel for.**

**That's all, enjoy!**

**Summary: **Uponreturning from his successful mission to retrieve Sasuke, Naruto thinks things will finally settle down… but the very next day, he is summoned before the council. Danzo and the council go over Tsunade's head to the Daimyo, and have Naruto banished under pain of death, effective almost immediately. As he flees towards the Valley of the End, Naruto meets a certain red-haired menace and a lone sound Chunin. What will bloom from this chance meeting? What changes will this meeting hold for the future of the shinobi world? Read on to find out…

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, nadda, zip, besides my OC that appears later. And the plot line, that's mine too. But not the Naruto series. Nor do I make profit off this.**

**- Land of Waves: Overlooking the Great Naruto Bridge – "D-Day" -**

Naruto smirked to himself as he looked out over the ocean, the setting sun casting a sparkling array of colors and flashes across the large body of water. In the distance, Naruto watched as the last of the traders and travelers crossed the huge bridge that Tazuna had built, headed either for the open road, or for the town on the this side of the bridge.

The blonde Nukenin hefted Kubikiribocho onto his shoulder, being forced to use both hands to hold it there, and started his trudge back to Tazuna's house. Despite the somewhat comical sight of the orange-clad, blonde-haired thirteen year old carrying a massive sword, anyone that saw him would have immediately noticed the air of confidence and determination around him.

As he entered Tazuna's house again, he chuckled lightly to himself. _'You know, maybe things will turn out alright after all…'_ He thought, whistling a tune as he hefted his new sword and continued on to the room the red-haired girl he had saved was in.

**- Land of Waves: Tazuna's house -**

The very first thing that Tayuya realized when she woke up was that she was in pain. Not as bad as when she had been when she was trapped between the trees, but still, she was in pain. _'Ah great, even when I'm dead, I've done too much shit to escape the pain…'_ She thought to herself. However, she quickly realized that something was wrong. She felt oddly exposed, but at the same time, warm. And her legs, the source of most of the pain, seemed….stiff.

She blinked her eyes open slowly, glancing around with sheer confusion. She soon realized, however, that the beige colored room she was in was not part of the afterlife, nor were the wrappings on her arms, nor the splints on her legs.

"What the fuck? What fucking dipshit saved me…." She murmured to herself, shakily raising a hand to feel at the area that had previously been wounded by a kunai stabbed into her chest. To her great surprise, she found the wound gone, no scar at all, as if it had never happened.

"So, you're awake, huh?" A voice said from the corner of the room. Tayuya's head snapped towards the voice, and she rapid sat up. Or, she would have, had pain not shot through her body.

"Whoa! Whoa, easy there, you were just like, dead and stuff." The same voice exclaimed. Tayuya blinked once, twice, three times before she accepted that what she was seeing was real. Sitting on a chair in the corner was a boy about her age with spikey blonde hair, blue eyes and strange whisker marks. _'Cute whisker marks…'_ Tayuya thought momentarily, the red-head's version of the 'Kawaii' that other girls usually did when they saw something cute.

However, those thoughts were quickly shaken from her head as she realized something about this kid. Despite the orange pants and the simple black t-shirt, the kid had a shuriken and kunai pouch, and he carried himself like a shinobi. Not a very skilled one, but he seemed slightly more aware of his surroundings than a normal civilian. That, and Tayuya remembered him as one of the Konoha ninja that had chased after the Sound Four and Sasuke.

"The fuck do you want shithead! What, gonna' let me heal and then rape me for information!" Tayuya yelled angrily, causing Naruto to flinch and looked down at the ground.

"No, no I'm not." He murmured. "I'm….I'm not with Konoha anymore, kunoichi-chan. I was banished, but I escaped. So technically….I'm a missing nin now." He murmured softly, pain flashing across his face, visible to Tayuya.

'_Banished?'_ Tayuya thought to herself. _'So….kicked him out, and by the looks of his gear and shit, left him for dead….He's just like me.'_ Tayuya mused, finding it ironic that she was, apparently, saved by someone else whose village hated them.

"Heh, so what, you fuck up big time when you got back, shithead?" She asked, not letting her moment of camaraderie that she felt ruin her mask.

Naruto just scoffed and shook his head, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head.

"Naw… apparently they saw me as 'unstable' and 'a danger to the village', all because I hurt that traitor Uchiha-teme when I was bringing him back…" He murmured, snarling a bit at the end.

Tayuya blinked, but decided to drop the subject for now. It wasn't like she cared anyways, right? "So, fuck-head, why did you fucking save my sorry ass anyways?" She shot back, too weak to shout or truly be mad for the moment.

Naruto offered her a dazzling smile that caught her extremely off-guard. "Because, I heard that Oto Chunin. They left you for dead too, used you like a tool than discarded you. I hate that, and plus, you're like me now, so I saved you."

Tayuya snorted, laying her head back against the surprisingly soft pillow, but still staring at the blonde. "It doesn't matter. Orochi-cocker can track us through these damned Curse Seals, so they'll find me again…" She said in a soft, sad, usually out-of-character voice.

Naruto just smirked and sat forward, placing his elbows on his knees. "You mean that weird-ass hicky like Snake-teme gave Uchiha-teme?" He asked, receiving only a nod as confirmation. "Heh, yeah well, technically you died, and when I used this jutsu my…friend, taught me to bring you back, that thing was gone. So, congratulations you're free!" He exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

Tayuya just stared at him, blinking dumbly as she processed what he said. Finally, it hit her like a ton of bricks falling a cat that was just run over by a stampede of women chasing after Jiraiya when he was caught peeping.

"W-WHAT? You fucking piece of shit, I'll kill your gay ass if you fucking joke about shit like that again!" Tayuya yelled at Naruto, seething that this stupid-ass blonde would dare make jokes like that. But then, she reached up to feel the skin where her Cursed Seal had been, and instead of the painful tingle she usually got up her spine when she touched it, she left nothing.

Naruto just smirked as Tayuya paused, her face a mask of surprise when she realized there was no twinge, no pain, nothing when she touched the spot her curse mark was supposed to be. He grabbed a small hand mirror from Tsunami's nearby nightstand and walked over to Tayuya, handing it to her. The red-haired kunoichi took it with shaky hands and proceeded to look for he cursed mark, only to find blank, flawless skin. She began to breathe so fast she was almost hyperventilating as her hands rapidly search her skin, looking for any sign of the cursed, no pun intended, mark on her skin. When she found nothing, she began to actually weep slightly and dropped the mirror, turning her now-upright upper body and hugging Naruto.

Of course, this caught the blonde completely off-guard, but he tentatively reached around Tayuya's back and hugged her back, waiting until the girl let go to back away, blushing slightly.

"T-thank you….you…I….I'm free now…" Tayuya murmured, her eyes on the mirror that rested in her lap, her hands fidgeting with it.

"Hehe, not a problem. So….What's your name? I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto said, sitting back down in his chair, and barely remembering to cut of his usual, 'and I'm going to be Hokage'.

"Tayuya…..Just…Tayuya. Used to have a family name, but after those fuckers abandoned me and Orochi-cocker picked my sorry ass up, I forgot it." Tayuya mumbled, sinking back against the bed and glancing at the strangely intriguing blonde. She found herself rapidly blinking again when she noticed the massive sword next to the blonde.

"Holy fucking shit….I'm pretty fucking sure you didn't have that giant fucker with you when you were chasing shit-head and the other dumbfucks. Where did you get it?" The redhead asked in her usual manner.

Naruto looked up and blinked in confusion for a moment before remembering that he had Kubikiribocho next to him. "Oh, this? This is Kubi-….Kuri-….gah, I don't remember its name. But this is the sword of one of the greatest men I knew….well, in a way. He died though, so I took it up now, so when I live my new dream, I can remember him through that." Naruto said with a nod, causing Tayuya to just look at him skeptically.

"Righttt….." Tayuya murmured, giving a resigned sigh and laying back completely against her bed. _'Great…even though I'm free from Orochi-cocker, my legs are fucked, and even if they weren't, where the fuck would I even go?'_ She thought inwardly, cursing her luck. She glanced over at the blonde boy, Naruto, who was currently staring at his sword. _'Well….I have no other options….and besides, two ninja is better than one…'_

"Oi, shithead. You…got any plans now?" Tayuya asked the blonde, startling him from his trance.

"Hm? Oh, well yeah! I'm waiting here for my old sensei. He helped me escape from Konoha, and he said to go here and wait here for a month. I trust him too, 'cause he said he knew my dad, and I never knew him. So, that's what I'll do." Naruto said with a nod

"Heh….alright fucker…. I guess I'm staying with you then. I mean, it will take my legs at least that long to heal…" Tayuya murmured back, staring at the wall.

"Hehe, sure thing! And maybe after that, you can even come with me when I travel around and train!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning.

Tayuya just scoffed slightly and nodded silent, inwardly confused by the slight urging of her heart to go with the boy. It was…strange. His attitude, his happiness, they were literally infectious.

"Alright the fuck-face….so….where will we go after your fucking sensei gets here?" Tayuya asked after they had both lapsed back into silence for a while.

"Hm? Oh, I don't know yet. I mean, I was thinking I would go somewhere north to train. But, if you're coming, we can go somewhere else if you want…" Naruto said thoughtfully, fidgeting with some large scroll in his hands, roughly a foot and a half long and decent thick.

"Well that depends on where the fuck we are. You got a map, dipshit?" Tayuya asked, though her tone was not hostile.

"Hm? Oh yeah, here, give me a sec…" Naruto murmured, unrolling the large scroll. He seemed to study it for a while before biting his thumb and rubbing it against the upper left hand corner of the scroll. Instantly, there was a poof of smoke and a smaller scroll appeared. Naruto set the larger scroll down and walked over to Tayuya's bed, sitting down on the edge and unrolling the map. He also caused Tayuya to blush slightly at the proximity, but he didn't notice.

"Watch it fucker! Shit, you're going to toss my legs around. Give me the fucking map….where are we…" She snapped, snatching the map and looking at it. Both her eyebrows raised in surprise as she saw that the map was extremely extensive, including many island and island countries to the south of the major nations.

"We're right….here." Naruto murmured, pointing to a tiny island that was marked in white on the map, which happened to be in color, and was just off the coast of the Land of Fire.

"Right…well….north would be stupid you dumb fucker. The Lightning Country, not to mention Orochi-fucking-maru and Otogakure? Kami, do they teach you dumb-shits Nothing in Konoha? No, if we're going together, which I'm only doing to use you as a fucking meat shield if I have to, then we're going south. We can cross through Fire Country and into Tea Country. Tea Country is basically a giant vacation country, from what I hear at least. You want to train, we go there. From there…..fuck me if I know, we'll just bounce between all these shitty little islands or some bullshit like that. Not like we can stay anywhere permanently, being fucking criminals or experiments of a snake freak." Tayuya ranted, murmuring the last part bitterly. She jumped slightly when a hand rested gently on her shoulder.

"You're not a freak because of what Hebi-teme did, Tayuya. Trust me." Naruto said kindly before giving her a foxy grin and grabbing the map, going back to his chair and starting to seal it back away, silently thanking Jiraiya for refreshing his memory on how to work sealing scrolls when they were finding Baa-chan.

Tayuya just blinked, watching him silently, still caught off guard by what he said. _'Huh. He seems like…he accepts me, despite knowing what I've done. Maybe this won't be so bad after all….. That stupid fucker seriously has to lose the orange though.'_

**- Land of Fire: Konohagakure no Sato – A day later -**

In a dark corner of the Hidden Leaf Village, Jiraiya of the Sannin stepped from a shadowed door in a back alley, the very same door that just moments later disappeared back into the wall with a grinding sound, followed by a thunk. Now, some people would be suspicious of Jiraiya for this behavior, and that suspicion would be doubled by the blood covering Jiraiya. However, when four ANBU black ops members landed next to him and reported a "Mission Complete", most people would have backed away and pretended like nothing had happened.

Yes, tonight, Danzo and his ROOT had been finished. When Tsunade found out what Danzo had done while she was in surgery on two clan heirs that needed to be brought back into the realm of safety health-wise, the backstabbing traitor had gone and exiled her surrogate son. Needless to say, the Hokage tower was going to need massive repairs. She had immediately ordered Jiraiya and her ANBU to find Danzo and bring him in. Jiraiya at this point simply smiled and handed Tsunade a map, along with an information scroll. The ANBU in the room shivered lightly at this point, as their Hokage started to laugh in a manner eerily similar to Orochimaru.

As it turned out, Jiraiya had gathered just enough information to hold Danzo responsible for treason, most of it being about Danzo's ROOT, and as such Tsunade ordered a full-out attack on the ROOT. Full-out being a term here, as it was really just three ANBU teams and Jiraiya, and in reality it was fast and rather quiet. The majority of the ROOT forces were wiped out with a vengeance, and Danzo himself was caught unaware and killed by Jiraiya.

However, the news of what happened to Naruto had spread. Most of the villagers were actually celebrating, though some had changed their opinions since the Chunin exams. These celebrations were loud, full of alcohol, and usual shut down within a few hours by irate Jonin or ANBU.

Shikamaru Nara was at a loss when he heard the news, feeling even worse than he had before when he blamed himself for his injured team members. Luckily for him, or as he said, troublesome, Temari ran into him moping again and knocked some sense into him. As it was, Temari was staying in Konoha for a while as an ambassador, and the two recently promoted Chunin, as Temari had been promoted once Baki became temporary Kazekage, found themselves spending more time together as the days dragged on.

Sakura honestly didn't know how to feel about the whole thing. Yes, Naruto was her teammate, and yes he had kept his promise to her. But on the other side, he was annoying and constantly asking her out, and now she had 'her' Sasuke-kun back to focus on.

Neji and Choji were saddened when they heard the news, as both of them had lost someone they had recently grown to consider a friend. Kiba was as well, though he still was having trouble wrapping his head around the whole thing.

Lee cried for, as expected, the 'loss of such youthful flames of youth'. Ten-Ten shared her friend's gloomy attitude, but she had not known Naruto very well.

Hinata was, in every essence of the word, broken. She barely ate, couldn't sleep, and wouldn't train. Kurenai had tried everything to help the poor girl, and even her normally stoic and cold father was being kind to her.

And Sasuke….

Once the Uchiha had woken up and heard the news, he was enraged. At first, no one understood why Sasuke was so mad. However eventually, Sasuke had explained his feelings to Kakashi. The cyclopean Jonin was shocked to find out that Sasuke had been changed by Naruto in that battle at the Valley of the End. Something had snapped in the Uchiha, and his drive for revenge was replaced but a grim acceptance of fate, and a want to…protect, his "friends", as Sasuke himself called them. Kakashi couldn't explain it, and he could see it in the boy's eyes that Sasuke couldn't truly put it into words either.

That brings us to the here and now, as Sasuke Uchiha wrapped his hands in ninja tape, sitting on the edge of his hospital bed, almost ready to leave. He was staring out the window, a look of deep thought on his face. Finally, he finished wrapping his remaining hand with a tug and stood up, his face melting into a mask of grim determination.

"Dobe… I swear this to you, wherever you are, on my honor as a shinobi of the Leaf. I will become stronger, not for myself, but for my friends. And I will live your dream for you. I WILL become Hokage…..believe it!" He said with conviction to his reflection in the window before turning and leaving, headed straight for the training grounds, uncaring of the two ANBU guards that visibly followed him, as Tsunade had already informed him of his parole.

**- Land of Waves: Tazuna's House – Two Weeks after "D-Day" -**

Tayuya sighed wistfully to herself as she sat beneath the shade of a tree on a beautiful, sunny day. She was currently seated on a blanket with her still splinted legs propped slightly up on a cushion, a scroll and paintbrush on her lap.

The past two weeks had been….interesting, if one could call it that. Although Tayuya was normally a rash, crude and upfront person, at least on the outside, she simply couldn't bring herself to act her normal mask to its fullest. Although she was happy to be free of being a simple tool for 'Orochi-cocker' and the Sound Village, it really and truly sucked to be abandoned, even more so to have technically been killed.

Despite her strange funk of a mood for that, the strange blonde shinobi that was called Naruto wasn't that bad, but it was just….strange. Tayuya had never once in her life met someone so…positive. And she was, extremely grudgingly, forced to admit that his constant positive attitude was slowly but sure cheering her up. Not that she would ever admit that to the blonde shinobi.

"Hey, shithead, you done yet? You look ready to fall flat on your gay ass." Tayuya said, directing the comment and aforementioned blonde boy, who was currently mock-fighting against his clones.

Naruto looked up and blinked, only to be socked straight in the jaw by one of the three remaining clones. Groaning, the blonde pushed himself back up and motioned his clones back, causing all three of them to dispel, and walked over to sit next to the red-haired girl. He gave he his usual foxy grin and looked at the scroll in her lap.

"Yup. And wow Tayuya-chan, it looks great!" Naruto said, motioning to the painting that Tayuya had in her lap. The two of them were currently seated on the edge of Naruto's unofficial training ground which overlooked the sea, and the Great Naruto Bridge, which Tayuya was painting.

About a week about Tayuya had gotten fed up with being cooped up inside Tazuna's house, despite Tsunami and Tazuna being very kind, and Inari even having developed one of those cute, little-kid crushes on her, Tayuya just couldn't take it anymore. So, she had managed to convince her new 'friend', though she wasn't willing to admit the blonde had earned the title, to take her outside with him when he was training.

"Meh. Fucking hard to do with your dumb ass blowing shit up over there…" The red-head mumbled, idly adding details to the painting. Despite her rough exterior, Tayuya had always had a hand for the arts. This was obvious in her chosen form of genjutsu, and also in the extremely talented painting skills she had showcased recently.

Tayuya mused idly to herself as she finished the painting, continuing her mental train of thoughts revolving around the most recent weeks of her life, Naruto lost in his own thoughts until he finally spoke up in a surprising serious tone.

"Hey…Tayuya-chan?" He murmured, surprising the girl slightly at his seriousness. "What…what was it like, being back there in Oto? Was it….fun?"

Tayuya blinked a few times before shrugging staring off into space. "It….was ok, I guess. I mean, the snake bastard was…a fucking pedophile, but I was ok since I'm a chick, and not one of Orochi-cocker's fuck-toys like Kimimaro… People there hated us, the Sound Four, because they feared us. But it wasn't like, in your face hate…fucking cowards. They just hated us in silence, mostly because Sakon and Ukon had a tendency to rape their daughters and fucked up shit like that."

Naruto nodded sadly, also staring off into space until the red-head next to him turned to looked at him. "Why, fucker? Comparing it to your amazing life back in Konoha?" She asked, mildly surprised to see Naruto scoff and get a bitter look on his face.

"My life in Konoha…wasn't great. I was the demon child, the brat, the blight on the village's name…I never knew my parents, and the people at the orphanage hated me. The closest I had to family as Hokage-Jiji…..but then, Orochimaru killed him off….and then they banished me for bringing back their precious Uchiha with a few scratches…called me unstable… fucking hypocrites…" He mumbled, looking down at his hands.

Tayuya grimaced and bit her lip, reaching out and placing her free hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Hey…fuck-head look, I'm…I'm sorry that we helped the snake kill t-…" She started to say before Naruto cut her off by bringing his head back up and giving her a small, but real, smile.

"I told you the other day Tayuya-chan, it's fine. I heard that Chunin that killed you. You were used, and then thrown away when you were useless. I don't blame you, ok?" The blonde said.

Tayuya just sighed and nodded, smiling weakly at her blonde companion as they had their little heart-to-heart, for them that is, before responding.

"Alright Naruto….now…why did the villagers all hate you? Was it because of the Kyuubi?" She asked, causing Naruto to sit up straight as a log and gasp at her in surprise.

"Y-you….you know?" He asked, flabbergasted.

"Well no shit. Remember, Kabuto was in Konoha for like, ever? He heard it from some drunk ninja in a bar once, and the fact that any shinobi with a brain could feel the demonic chakra you used in the Chunin finals confirmed it. Orochi-cocker told us before we left to get Sasuke as a precaution." Tayuya answered him.

"And….you don't have a problem with it?" Naruto asked, still shocked a bit, but understanding her explanation.

"Heh, fuck no. I think it's kind of cool actually. Besides, we're fucking wanted shinobi now. Having a big ass demon with anger issues locked inside you will be a bonus to us." She said, going back to her painting.

"Heh….well, that's cool then. Thanks for…accepting me, Tayuya-chan. It means a lot." The blonde shinobi murmured back, smiling to himself and inspecting his hands again.

"Ok shit-head. Whatever you say…" Tayuya murmured before jumping slightly as a puff of smoke appeared in front of them, leaving behind a messenger toad.

"Naruto, Jiraiya says to tell you that everything's ok in Konoha. They got Danzo after Jiraiya got enough dirt on him, though Tsunade still can't reverse the banishment because the Daimyo issued it. He said to tell you he'd be a little late though, he'll be here in about four weeks. He said he was bringing a friend." The toad said.

"Alright, tell him that's fine, I'll just be training. Oh and, can you ask him to bring me a sword, and some Kenjutsu scrolls? Oh, and clothes for Tayuya-chan here? But make sure he know if it's anything indecent, I'll use the Thousand Years of Pain Kinjutsu on him, with a Rasengan." The blonde said seriously to the toad messenger, who visibly flinched and grimaced at the though, before nodding and vanishing.

"The fuck was that about?" Tayuya asked, causing Naruto to grin sheepishly and rub the back of his head.

"Oh, Ero-Sennin is a pervert, so if he brings you clothes, they probably won't cover much." Naruto said, causing Tayuya to literally facepalm.

'_Great, a blonde idiot with an unnatural love for orange, and his pervert of a sensei. I'm fucking doomed….'_

**- Land of Waves: Tazuna's House – 6 Weeks after "D-Day" -**

Tayuya grunted to herself as she gingerly dodged to the right, still getting used to her recently-healed legs. She knew they had healed surprisingly fast, but she wasn't asking questions.

Naruto chuckled and swung back up diagonally with his make-shift wooden sword, only to have his red-haired sparring partner block the strike with her own.

Ever since Tayuya was fit to walk again, they had been training together. Although Tayuya was out her flute, she was working on the few flute-less genjutsu she knew, and at Naruto's suggestion was working on her taijutsu and kenjutsu as well. Although Tayuya originally dismissed it as pointless, Naruto pointed out that without her battle flute, she was going to have to resort to other genjutsu, along with ninjutsu and taijutsu to fight. Thankfully Naruto's 'Ero-Sennin' had the sense to back basic jutsu scrolls in the large sealing scroll he had given Naruto, along with instructions for taijutsu katas.

So now the two were currently practicing in their personal little training ground, awaiting the arrival of Naruto's sensei later that day.

"Hey, Tayuya-chan?" Naruto asked as he righted himself and got back into his stance again. That was another thing that Tayuya had been able to help him with, getting down a proper stance. Whomever had taught him at the academy must have been trying to get him killed. _'Though, if what he tells me is true, that might not be so far-fetched…'_ The red-haired kunoichi mused to herself before responding.

"'Sup Foxy?" She shot back, using her nickname for him to piss him off as she swung at his legs.

"Oi! I have a name you know…" Naruto grumbled, blocking her block and whipping a kunai at her with his free hand. "And I was just thinking that we should decide where we're going for sure. I mean, we said south before, but that was like a month ago."

Tayuya deflected the kunai with a senbon needle she held before flinging that at Naruto, causing the blonde to grunt softly in pain at the needle imbedded itself in his arm.

"I told you yesterday, Tea Country to start, and we'll go from there. There's literally about a hundred smaller island in the southern seas, most of them aren't even on your map because they're not considered worth putting on a shinobi's map, as they're mostly populated by civilians." The red-head said in a calm manner, deflecting the two strikes from Naruto's make-shift sword, and uttering a loud "Fuck" as the kunai he threw in between sliced her leg, though not deeply.

"Well, well, well, Gamatochi was right! You Do have yourself a little girlfriend…" A gruff voice said from the sidelines, causing both teens to blush at the thought but whip around, swords at the ready. That was, until Naruto stuck his in the ground and glared at the man, whom Tayuya was still gawking over, seeing as she recognized him from the list of people that Orochimaru wanted dead, but instructed all his ninja to flee from.

"Ero-Sennin, can it! You're late anyways, almost worse than Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, glaring at his teacher.

"Eh, sorry Naruto, had to pick up a few things and find an old friend for you guys to meet." The Gama-Sannin said, strolling towards the two of them and nodding at Tayuya. "Pleasure to meet you Tayuya, and don't worry, I'm a spy master, I know you're no threat to Naruto. Now, you two….here, I have a present for you." Jiraiya said, pulling two large scrolls and two masks from a seal on his belt, handing one to each of them.

"Wait….these are fucking ANBU masks!" Tayuya exclaimed once she took what was handed to her. Indeed they were, as Naruto too found out. They were not any animal specifically, instead being the blank masks with the few red swirls used by recruit-level ANBU or those that were on extremely dangerous missions.

"Yeah. Don't get any ideas about joining any village's ANBU squads though. I grabbed those because I figured you would need them for times when you need to move in secret, or if you ever need to infiltrate anywhere." Jiraiya said, taking a seat on a nearby stump and smiling at the two young shinobi in front of him.

"So…what's in the scrolls, Ero-sensei?" Naruto asked, grinning as he tried on his mask, making Tayuya chuckle slightly and shake her head at her new friend's antics.

"More supplies, food, ninja gear, as well as weapons, and most importantly those scrolls you wanted. I'll be coming with you, and so will a friend of mine. We can't stay forever, but we will be staying long enough to kick-start your real training." Jiraiya said, pulling out his pipe and lighting it.

"Eh? Who's your friend, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked, only to be answered by a black blur landing next to Jiraiya.

Naruto and Tayuya were immediately on guard as the figure became clear, revealing a tall man with his hands held up in a sign of surrender. He was wearing black ninja sandals and black gloves, but what put the two younger shinobi on guard was the full-body black cloak covered in red clouds.

"Akatsuki…?" Naruto mumbled, confused by Jiraiya's lack of action, despite the fact that the Toad Sage was looking right at the man.

"Actually, I'm Jiraiya-sama's contact in the group, and your trainer in kenjutsu and genjutsu for the start of your trip." The man said, reaching up to his mask. "My name is…." He started, pausing momentarily as he pulled the orange swirl mask with a single eye hole off, revealing deep brown-black hair and a single black eye, the other being covered by an eye patch. There were visible scars around the eye patch, but they looked more like professional incisions than battle wounds. He had a rough beard on his jaw and around his mouth, through it was rather short. There also seemed to be faint, large scars all around the right side of his face where his good eye was, as if it had been badly damaged once.

"…Tobi." He said with a grin, adding another statement almost as an after-thought.

"…but you can call me Uchiha Obito."

**AN: BOOM! HAHAHAHA, I am EVIL INCARNATE. Now, before anyone bitches about that, THINK ABOUT IT. First, it's an AU story. But then thing about the similarity. In cannon, it's "Tobi". Come on, Tobi? Obito? Way too close to pass up in an AU story. Not only that, but he has the Sharingan? Why keep one covered?...unless, he didn't HAVE that eye. And yes, I checked, Obito in cannon has his left eye given to Kakashi, the other one is under the boulder.**

**More will be explained next chapter on HOW Obito survived, it will all make sense then.**

**Ja ne!**


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys!

Sorry, not another chapter yet, just an update on status! First off I apologize for being an idiot with my wording. In my original note I made it sound like I was going to have another chapter out labor day weekend for RFOTF, and one the next weekend for TOAO. That is incorrect and it's my fault. What I meant in my hastily-typed note was that –THIS- coming weekend, the weekend after labor day, the next chapter of RFOTF will be out, and TOAO the weekend after that. Sorry for the confusion! Also, RFOTF fans, I edited the first few chapters, feel free to go back and read if you want, but I really only patched a few plot holes.

Regards,

Ero-Kyuubi-Sama


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